Interscholastic event? PC 46.035

[CC Italian]

What can fall under interscholastic event according to Texas Penal Code 46.035? I am going to a conference that is not sponsored by a state education agency but there will be school district and college employees present. Their school districts or colleges pay for these school district employees to attend the conference. There will be no students at this event but I am a little reluctant to carry without some opinions. What do you guys think? Worst comes to worst I just leave it in the car.

[dicion]

What can fall under interscholastic event according to Texas Penal Code 46.035? I am going to a conference that is not sponsored by a state education agency but there will be school district and college employees present. Their school districts or colleges pay for these school district employees to attend the conference. There will be no students at this event but I am a little reluctant to carry without some opinions. What do you guys think? Worst comes to worst I just leave it in the car.

Without students there, I wouldn't consider it an 'interscholastic event'. I think they're referring to thing like Spelling Bees, Debates, Chess Club matches, etc by that term, and In my opinion, there would have to be students competing against other students for it to qualify as such.

[CC Italian]

Just found out from a friend that there could be college students there if they pay the fee to attend the conference themselves. Hmm... do you have an opinion on this Charles? This would not be in anyway related to college work but falls under continuing education for a state certification. If you have not guessed yet it is for teaching.

[Crossfire]

I have seen college students at the grocery store too, but that doesn't keep me from carrying there.

Nothing about your scenario says "school sponsored event" to me. My opinion is, I would carry there.

[Charles L. Cotton]

You have me stumped on this one. As dicion said, I interpret it to be functions like he listed plus things like speech tournaments, cheerleader contests between schools, etc. I did a quick search and couldn't find any case law.

Sorry,
Chas.

[srothstein]

While I am cautious anytime Charles does not have an answer, I would look for the term interscholastic to be defined as some sort of contest between schools. I cannot ever recall seeing a conference or meeting billed using the term that way, just contests - debate contests, sports, etc.

If it helps, a quick search (non-conclusive) of the Education Code only reveals the word interscholastic as being used to refer to the University Interscholastic League and its events. This helps reinforce to me that it is referring to competition type events.

[dac1842]

Charles,
Is there a federal statute that prohibits possession of a firearm on school grounds? I was at a school parking area today as part of a Patriot Guard event. I was not carrying, but got involved in a discussion about carrying at a school. I stated as long as you don't go inside you were fine, the person I was talking to, who professed to be the President of the school board said I was wrong, federal law prohibited it. I still think I am right.. what say you?

[cbr600]

Is there a federal statute that prohibits possession of a firearm on school grounds?

There is a Federal law that prohibits unlicenced carry. It doesn't apply if you have a license from the state you're in, or if you're law enforcement, or if you have some other loophole.

[ScottDLS]

Charles,
Is there a federal statute that prohibits possession of a firearm on school grounds? I was at a school parking area today as part of a Patriot Guard event. I was not carrying, but got involved in a discussion about carrying at a school. I stated as long as you don't go inside you were fine, the person I was talking to, who professed to be the President of the school board said I was wrong, federal law prohibited it. I still think I am right.. what say you?

I'm not Charles, but I'll add:


Federal Gun Free Safe School Zones Act (GFSZA) says:

(2)(A) It shall be unlawful for any individual knowingly to
possess a firearm that has moved in or that otherwise affects
interstate or foreign commerce at a place that the individual
knows, or has reasonable cause to believe, is a school zone.
(B) Subparagraph (A) does not apply to the possession of a
firearm -
...
(i) on private property not part of school grounds;
(ii) if the individual possessing the firearm is licensed to do
so by the State in which the school zone is located or a
political subdivision of the State, and the law of the State or
political subdivision requires that, before an individual obtains
such a license, the law enforcement authorities of the State or
political subdivision verify that the individual is qualified
under law to receive the license;
...
(vi) by a law enforcement officer acting in his or her official
capacity; or
...

So the short answer is:

You are OK if you have a Texas CHL or are a police officer acting in your official capacity.

So you were right that you're OK on school grounds with a Texas CHL. And the school official was right that there's a federal law...but it doesn't apply to a CHL.

[dac1842]

I thought so . But given the environment of the day, Vet funeral CMOH, I opted not to pursue the discussion.

[geoelectro]

I do service calls in schools fairly often for my business. I always lock my weapon in the car in a locked box. In our CHL class, it was brought up to the instructor. Of course it's legal to carry on the property as long as you do not go inside a building etc.etc. He also mentioned that if you were at a school for a couple of hours and left your weapon in your car, and then the car was broken in to by a student who later committed a crime with your weapon, you could have a problem when they started asking why did you bring a gun onto school property? At least if you took precautions that showed you were being responsible it would look better to the authorities or in a court.

Geoelectro

[LarryH]

Is there a federal statute that prohibits possession of a firearm on school grounds?

There is a Federal law that prohibits unlicensed carry. It doesn't apply if you have a license from the state you're in, or if you're law enforcement, or if you have some other loophole.

Exception, not loophole (IMHO).